Feeling autumnal and its still August

With berries on the trees already it makes me think of autumn, although it has been August bank holiday weekend .and autumn makes me feel like knitting.
so I have been finishing off the squares I made from Debbie Abrahams book and using the skills she taught us way back at the start of summer at her mystery blanket day. I have been blocking out my squares into the required 6 3/4 " x 6 3/4" just like she showed me.
They are actually pinned to the ironing board, not onto a rocky shore ( this is my ironing board cover) The Dalek is not one of Debbie's designs but a special request from my DD to be incorporated into her cushion. I decided that 160 squares to make a blanket was a bit ambitious so I have stopped at 9 to make a cushion cover.
and straight onto the next project a little baby cardigan for a friend who is expecting a little boy any time now. This Sirdar snuggly summer stripes yarn is so soft, it is made from a blend of 80% bamboo and 20% wool.
Jenny has been busy sewing gifts for friends too. The soft pink flowers of this Durham Quilt fabric by Lecien are lovely and intended for my next quilt project but were liberated from my stash.
These little embroidered badges are a gift from my sister, do you think they are old and if so what have they come off? Now what will I do with them?
My vintage collection corner is growing after a trip to a local car boot sale. I was delighted to find the Maling ware jug, my gran gave me one just the same many years ago but it fell off a shelf and broke when my small children were being a bit too boisterous!! Although after watching a TV programme about hoarding last week, perhaps I should just go easy on my collection. I am enjoying looking out for old textiles too.
This had embroidered tray cloth is so sweet and must have taken someone hours to sew. I hope they got as much pleasure from sewing it as I am just looking at it.

Happy Quilting xx

Must post more often !!!!

Since my last post we have done so much , 2 weekends, one very wet and one a bit drier. The very wet weekend was spent visiting my DD up in the borders. In order to get out of the rain we visited the Chain Bridge Honey farm just out side Berwick upon Tweed. The Union Chain Bridge was the first major bridge of its kind to be designed for vehicles and is the oldest surviving iron suspension bridge in Europe.It is right next door to the Chain Bridge Honey Farm. Well worth a visit to find out all about Honey and beeswax products, to sample and to buy. But best to get out of the rain was their wonderful Cafe in this old double decker bus.We sat on the top deck to have our food, lovely homemade soup and sandwiches. Just what you need to keep warm in August!!
But another special find on the site was Living by Liz. A kitchenalia, vintage and retro shop belonging to Liz.
She has lots of lovely finds on sale - You can contact her at vintage@livingbyliz.co.uk to find out her opening hours. Well worth a visit.I bought a vintage Bero recipe book. I had a 1980's Bero book which I used all the time but it is no more so I replaced it with a 1960's version. This inspired Jenny to create our own vintage corner showing of some new purchases and some of granny's things I had hidden away.Isn't that embroidery on the table cloth lovely.
This weekend we were in Newcastle at the festival to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the Newcastle Gateshead Millennium bridge.
which started with a torch light procession along the Tyne Bridge Then proceeded down river with a fire work display from a barge on the river all in time to local music, everything from the Northumbrian pipes to Sting.And at last I have found time to tame those foundation pieced squares. Twelve squares was my limit - I couldn't face one more - but I have decided to make them into a table runner. Now I will have to decide how to quilt them - any suggestions?

Happy Quilting xx

Margaret's House

I have lovely friends who let me use my blog to show off their work. Margaret's current project is a patchwork dolls house quilt from a pattern by Rosalie Quinlan.
Applique is Margaret's favourite technique at the moment, She enjoys sitting down to the hand stitching
There are 9 rooms in the house, here we have a sewing room, bedroom, nursery and the washing on the line.
Watch out for more as the quilt takes shape....
My dear daughter has also been doing some sewing this week. She has made a really original gift for a friend. The images of her trip to the Harry Potter premier in London we printed onto the Miracle fabric sheets and then used them as part of the patchwork design for the front of the cushion.
I have been doing a little gardening between rain storms. The next job is to prune the apple tree.
We are going to have a bumper crop this year.

Happy Quilting xx